Tahoma's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: Tahoma
Beneficiary's Name: Chinook
VJ Member: Tahoma
Country: Philippines
Last Updated: 2015-05-27
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Immigration Checklist for Tahoma & Chinook:
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USCIS I-129F Petition:
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Dept of State K1 Visa:
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USCIS I-485 Petition:
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USCIS I-765 Petition:
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USCIS I-131 Petition:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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K1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
California Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Manila, Philippines |
| I-129F Sent : |
2008-09-30 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2008-10-01 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
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| RFE Reply(s) : |
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| I-129F NOA2 : |
2009-01-14 |
| NVC Received : |
2009-01-22 |
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
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| NVC Left : |
2009-01-30 |
| Consulate Received : |
2009-02-02 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
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| Packet 3 Sent : |
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| Packet 4 Received : |
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| Interview Date : |
2009-02-23 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2009-03-04 |
| US Entry : |
2009-03-15 |
| Marriage : |
2009-05-02 |
| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 105 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 145 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
Seattle |
| POE Date : |
2009-03-15 |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
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| Biometrics Taken : |
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| Harassment Level : |
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| Comments : |
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Adjustment of Status
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Seattle WA |
| Date Filed : |
2009-05-20 |
| NOA Date : |
2009-06-01 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2009-06-30 |
| AOS Transfer** : |
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| Interview Date : |
2009-08-27 |
| Approval / Denial Date : |
2009-08-27 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
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| Greencard Received: |
2009-09-08 |
| Comments : |
I received my Green Card in 109 days... |
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Employment Authorization
Document
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago National Office |
| Filing Method : |
Mail |
| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2009-05-20 |
| NOA Date : |
2009-06-01 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2009-06-30 |
| Approved Date : |
2009-07-01 |
| Date Card Received : |
2009-07-15 |
| Comments : |
Got it, but didn't use it. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your EAD was approved in 42 days. |
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Advance Parole
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Chicago National Office |
| Filing Method : |
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| Filing Instance : |
First |
| Date Filed : |
2009-05-20 |
| NOA Date : |
2009-06-01 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Date Received : |
2009-07-09 |
| Comments : |
Got it, but didn't use it. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your AP was approved in 43 days. |
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Lifting Conditions
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
California Service Center |
| Date Filed : |
2011-05-31 |
| NOA Date : |
2011-06-02 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
2011-07-07 |
| Interview Date : |
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| Approval / Denial Date : |
2011-07-20 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Got I551 Stamp : |
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| Green Card Received : |
2011-08-01 |
| Comments : |
I didn't have to interview in order to lift conditions on my green card. |
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Citizenship
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
Phoenix AZ Lockbox |
| CIS Office : |
Seattle WA |
| Date Filed : |
2012-06-08 |
| NOA Date : |
2012-06-12 |
| Bio. Appt. : |
2012-07-16 |
| Interview Date : |
2012-09-10 |
| Approved : |
Yes |
| Oath Ceremony : |
2012-09-10 |
| Comments : |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Manila, Philippines
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
November 18, 2011 |
| Embassy Review : |
My interview experience
My Interview Experience
February 23, 2009 – Monday at 5:45 a.m. -- I arrived at the Embassy and waited for my turn to fall in line. While I was waiting, I saw some Filipino World War II veterans in front of the Embassy registering for their long-overdue benefits. Some of them were proudly dressed in their old military uniforms. The guard finally told everyone to fall in the correct line.
The K1 beneficiaries and the K3 beneficiaries were in the same immigrant visa line. The guard checked my appointment letter and my ID.
Inside the Embassy, there was an usherette to assist you in checking the DS forms. After I finished checking my forms, I then proceeded to get my number. Pay attention to the monitor because the numbers are flashed randomly.
After they took my fingerprints, the Filipino pre-screener interviewed me. She just asked me some basic questions:
- My name and my fiancé’s name.
- Whether I had traveled before. If so, where, when, and for how long.
- Our age difference. (She said the wrong number for our age difference and I corrected her).
- When was my fiance’s last visit and for how long.
- She asked for my birth certificate, NBI and CENOMAR.
- She asked for the I-134 and its supporting documents. I gave her the 2008 income tax return, the 2008 income tax transcript, the 2008 W-2 form, five months of current paycheck stubs, and the employer's letter.
- She also asked for photos, emails, and remittances.
The pre-screener jotted down all of my answers.
The consul officer asked me several questions and I answered all of them well. She asked me the following:
- My name and my fiance’s name.
- My age and his age.
- My work and his work.
- Whether I had traveled before. If so, where, when and for how long.
- How long my fiancé stayed in the Philippines and how many times he visited me.
She also leafed through our documents at the same time. I saw her looking closely at our financial documents and the photos I submitted.
Then she told me that everything looked great, but there was one question on our I-129F form that my fiancé didn't answer. She told me that my fiancé needed to answer that question and he could fax another I-129 to the Embassy. But she also told me that the lady at the releasing window would explain it to me further. She was a very nice consular officer. She made it sound like it wasn't a major issue.
I went to the releasing window and the lady gave me the third page of our I-129F. She also gave me two other forms. One form was a 221g which included information about which document they needed me to submit. The other form contained the consular officer's signature. She explained everything to me very fast, so I decided to sit down and carefully read both of the forms. Then I went back to her and clarified some confusing instructions.
February 26, 2009 -- Thursday at 12:20 p.m. -- I received via Fed Ex from my fiancé the corrected third page of the I-129F.
At 1:00 p.m., I went to the Embassy and I submitted the third page of the I-129F together with the 221g form. The lady who received my documents asked me why I hadn't had it notarized. I told her that they didn’t specifically instruct me to have it notarized and she said ok.
February 27, 2009 -- Friday at 8:30 a.m. -- I was awakened by a call from Embassy caseworker #1 asking me for another copy of our I-134 Affidavit of Support and its supporting documents. According to the caseworker, they had not "lost" our documents, they had simply "misplaced" them. The caseworker wanted us to submit another original I-134 and also the income tax return, the W-2, the paycheck stubs, and the employer's letter.
When I called my fiancé and told him what happened, he called the Embassy and talked with Grace and with caseworker #2, the caseworker who was actually handling our case. At first, caseworker #2 told my fiancé that we could simply submit a copy of the I-134 rather than an original, and we could submit copies of everything else. By the end of the conversation, the caseworker told my fiancé that we did not have to submit anything at all.
February 27, 2009 -- Friday at 9:30 a.m. – I received a phone call from caseworker #2. I explained to him that I had submitted all of our financial documents already at my interview. He changed his story again. Now he said that I could submit whatever copies of documents I had. They didn't have to be originals. Then he said, "Why did you call your fiancé? Why couldn't you keep this between us Filipinos?" Hmmm...
February 27, 2009 -- Friday at 1:00 p.m. – I decided to play it safe and submit copies of everything that had been "misplaced." Thank goodness I had copies of everything. I also decided that I would submit the documents in person since I was still nearby at the CityState Tower Hotel.
So, I went to the Embassy and told the guard that I needed to submit some documents that the caseworker asked for. The guard told me that they don’t accept submission of documents on Fridays. One lady who was in line gave me an insulting laugh as if to tell me that I was foolish to try doing this on a Friday. I ignored the lady and firmly told the guard that I needed to go inside to submit my documents and told him the complete names of the persons who I talked to on the phone that morning. He let me in and told me to proceed to the Information counter.
The information officer told me the same thing: that Window 17 is closed on Friday. I explained to him the same thing I had told the guard, and I told him that I will submit the documents at Window X. He asked to see my documents and looked at my ID. Then he told me I could go inside.
The receiving lady also told me that submission of documents is only from Monday through Thursday. I was getting tired of explaining my situation to each one of them, but I just had to be assertive. So, I explained the situation to her. She accepted my documents and stamped them. Then I just went back to the hotel and called my fiancé.
It was a challenging and difficult week for both of us but we found strength in each other. I'm proud of how we handled those challenges.
March 4, 2009 -- in the morning -- I received a text from Air21 that my visa was going to be delivered. Since they don't deliver to my area until late in the afternoon, I immediately called their local office and asked them to hold my visa at their office. Then I jumped in a taxi and went there to pick it up. When I picked up my visa, the workers at the office serenaded me with the song about Filipinos going abroad and returning some day..."babalik ka rin." lol
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| Rating : |
Moderate |
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POE Review: Seattle
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| Event |
Description |
| Entry Date : |
2009-03-15 |
| Embassy Review : |
Finally, I am reunited with my loving fiance now . After the long visa process and 15 hours in the air, it is wonderful to be together with him again. Everything went smoothly. Flight was on time, the Immigration officers were very nice. It took me only 30 minutes to go through Immigration .
The first Immigration Officer asked me these questions:
> Why are you going to the U.S?
> What is your fiance's name
> How long have you known each other?
Then, he took my fingerprints and my photo, and instructed me to proceed to the other Immigration counter.
The second Immigration officer checked my visa packet and asked me the following questions:
> Fiance's name
> Is he divorced? Does he have any kids?
> Where did you meet him?
> Your parent's names?
> His age and your age?
He gave me back my xray CD and my passport. Then, he told me that I have 3 months to marry my fiance. Also, he wished me good luck in my marriage.
My fiance was there waiting for me at the baggage claim area.
I saw snow today for the first time in my life !!!
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| Harassment Level : |
Low |
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Local US CIS Office Review: Seattle WA
Review Topic: cis_topic
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
August 29, 2009 |
| Embassy Review : |
The officer was nice and seemed to know all the facts in our documents. He verified some data to us, like how and when did we meet, etc, and we told him they were all correct.
He told us that he can see a real marriage on us and he just need to ask some standard questions - (Have you ever been arrested, etc). Here are some questions that were asked:
> How's marriage life? I told him that it is wonderful and my husband told him that we are very compatible in so many ways. He asked my husband to tell him more about it.
> Do I like living here? Of course, and I told him why. My husband talked about how he likes the WA state too.
> Do I have plans of continuing my career here? I told him Yes and gave him some explanations.
> My SS #.... I told him I can't memorize it and I have to look at my notebook. He just smiled and told me that it is ok to look at it because this is not a test...((haha..I have to laugh at that))
Then he asked us for supporting documents. We gave him a copy of our joint account, bills, etc., and photos. He looked at all our photos and then told us that he will recommend us for approval and asked us for any questions.
I asked him if I have to surrender my EAD and AP. He took my EAD and gave us the Approval letter. Then we shook his hand and thanked him for approving us, and told him that we are going to celebrate our approval by eating Filipino food.
It was a very pleasant experience for us.
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| Harassment Level : |
Very Good |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
